Gustavo Petro has announced the departure of three members of his ministerial cabinet. (Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

The first president, Gustavo Petro, delivered his second presidential address on Monday, February 27, in which he announced the departure of three members of his cabinet: Alejandro Gaviria, from the Education portfolio; María Isabel Urrutia, of Sport; and Patricia Ariza, of Culture.

“I appreciate the services rendered by the ministers Alejandro Gaviria, Maria Isabel Urrutia and Patricia Ariza», underlined the president in the Casa de Nariño; however, officials leaving the cabinet were not present at the scene. “Through their contributions, they have contributed to enriching the debate and initiating the changes for which the country voted,” he added.

The president invited the three outgoing ministers to, “wherever they are, help us build this social pact”. Following this, he introduced the following heads of education and sports portfolios in the country: Aurora Vergara, who was Deputy Minister of Higher Education and a graduate in physical education, Astrid Rodriguezrespectively.

“I have decided to appoint Aurora Vergara as Minister of Education and Astrid Rodriguez as Minister of Sports,” said Gustavo Petro. An hour later, we learn that the person who will take over the management of the Culture portfolio will be the music teacher, Ignatius Fox. “We will continue to seek consensus and agreements to consolidate and deepen our reforms,” he added.

Agree with snail radioAlejandro Gaviria —who was critical of the changes that health reform demands—received a call from the palace in which he was notified of his departure from the ministry. On the other hand, María Isabel Urrutia and Patricia Ariza claimed that they had not been informed that they would be leaving their posts.

“I wish the president had let me know,” the now former culture minister told the radio show. Hour 20. Although he supports health, pensions and labor reforms, since he “agrees with the government of change”, he claimed that there were difficulties regarding the ccultural policy conceptswhich could have influenced his departure.

For her part, the former Minister of Sports expressed in the same media that she does not know if she was “declared ineffective or if the president changed me”, because she was never warned. In Hour 20He said his departure could be linked to the irregularities he found in the contracting of the entity: “I did everything humanly possible to clean up the Ministry of Sports.”

Regarding the conclusions he found, Urrutia said that there were “2,500 OPS -Service Provision Orders- from all political parties, projects where they do not exist, a series of things where this does not hasn’t been easy.” He was also investigating sports infrastructure projects to which resources had been transferred, but construction had not begun.

The Head of State began his speech by referring to the reforms that his administration has raised. “In a democracy, diversity of opinion is a value that I fully share,” Petro said and assured that the changes he has proposed require this debate in society as well as consensus within the government itself. .

“After being approved by Congress and by the company itself, they need a lot of determination to implement them,” he added.

The President stressed that “it change governance He will not give up reform to improve health, pensions and fair working conditions. While he said the goal is simple, “the how and the means are complex”. For this reason, they seek “fair, stable and responsible solutions among all”.

Because of the controversy these proposals have generated, the president clarified that they seek “simply that any patient be cured and that disease be prevented”. For the other reforms, the objective is that “all elderly people benefit from a retirement bonus” and “that all workers benefit from job security”.

Although Gustavo Petro placed more emphasis on the health reform and reiterated that it is “a right, not a business”. Likewise, he clarified that private activity will always be welcome, but “it cannot prevent or limit this fundamental right”.

The President concluded his address by calling for a “national agreement” which federates all political forces, including trade unions, community associations, social and peasant organizations, etc. “We are at a decisive moment for our reforms and we need more cohesion and determination”, underlined the Head of State.

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